Drill rod



April 29, 1947. F sMjTH 2,419,738

DRILL ROD Filed June 23, 1944 Patented Apr. 29, 1947 UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE DRILL ROD Louie F. Smith, South Houston, Tex. Application June 23, 1944, Serial No. 541,746

3 Claims. (Cl. Z55-72) This invention relates to a drill rod.

An object of the invention is to provide a drill rod of the character described specially designed for drilling, and taking cores of, hard formation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sectional drill rod embodying an outer tubular shell and an inner sectional core barrel extending from end to end of the shell and having a substantially uniform inside diameter with a diamond drill secured to the lower end of the shell and also embodying means for applying the pressure of the drilling lluid upwardly against the core which is formed by the drill so that the core and the drill cuttings will be carried upwardly by the returning drilling iiuid and delivered to the ground surface.

A further object of the invention is to provide a drill rod embodying a tubular shell having discharge openings above the drill for the discharge of the drilling fluid into the bore with a packer on the drill rod above the openings to form a seal with the walls of thebore whereby the drilling fluid discharged into the bore will be forced to flow on downwardly and return up through the core barrel; this will prevent the drilling iiuid from becoming dissipated into ssures or cavities in the formation being cored.

With the above and other objects in view the invention has particular relation to certain novel features of construction and use, examples of which are given in this specication and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation partly in section of the preferred form on the invention.

Figure 2 shows a side view partly in section of another embodiment.

Figure 3 shows a cross sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 shows a cross sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 shows a cross sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the numeral I designates the drill rod proper which is tubular in form and which will be hereinafter referred to as the shell. This rod is made up of a plurality of sections connected by coarse threads as 2 so that the sections may be quickly connected and disconnected.

The lower end of the lower section is reduced in external diameter and screwed onto its lower end is the diamond drill 3 whose lower end is reduced in its internal diameter forming the inside. annular, upwardly facing shoulder 4.

The lower end of the section of the drill rod which is connected to the lower section of said rod is reduced in its inside diameter forming the inside upwardly facing shoulder 5 and said reduced lower end, -as well as the lower section to which the drill is connected are provided with the inside longitudinal ribs 6 which are spaced apart around the shell providing the grooves 'I between them and leading outwardly from these grooves, above the drill, are the outlet ports 8.

Surrounding the shell immediately above said ports is a downwardly and outwardly ared packer 9 which is secured on the shell by the surrounding clamp ring I0.

Connected to the upper end of the shell I, by means of the coarse threads ll there is a swivel designated generally by the numeral I2. This swivel comprises the tubular rotatable swivel body I3, surrounding which is thestationary jacket I4 which is provided with an inlet I5 through which the drilling uid is forced by a suitable pump.

Between the rotatable body I3 and the upper and lower ends of the stationary jacket I 4 there are the seal ring assemblies IE and Il, the latter of which is supported on the external annular shoulder I8 of the rotatable body and the former of which is retained in place by the retaining nuts I 9 screwed onto the upper end of the rotatable body I3. The swivel may be supported by the bail 2U.

There is a sectional core barrel 2| whose lower end rests on the shoulder 4 and whose `upper end. extends up through the swivel.

The rotatable body I3 of the swivel has an inside annular channel 2.2 therearound which is enclosed by the core barrel thus forming a chamber and the rotatable body .I3 has an inlet port 23 through which the drilling fluid may enter said chamber. This drilling iluid passes from the chamber 22 downwardly through the ducts 24 and on down through the grooves 'l and out through the outlet ports 8 into the bore. This drilling uid is under pressure and will pass downwardly around the drill and will be returned back up through the core barrel and will carry the drill cuttings and the cores on up through the core barrel 2l to the ground surface where the same may be recovered for inspection.

It will be noted from an inspection of Figure l that the core barrel sections are of approximately the same length as the shell sections so that the drill rod may be lengthened by the addition of sections as the bore hole is deepened. A conventional drilling apparatus now in common use may be applied to the drill rod for rotating the same and for holding the drill against the formation.

At times the drill may encounter a fissure, or a cavity, in the strata being drilled. In such case the drillingluid will temporarily flow into said fissure or cavity and will not return up through the drill rod but as soon as the fissure or cavity is past, the packer 9 will form a seal 3 with the walls of the bore hole beneath the cavity or fissure and the drilling fluid will then be forced on down around the drill and back up through the core barrel as contemplated.

There will be suflicient leakageeof drilling fluid around the core being formed to keep the drill lubricated.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 the shank of the core drill 3a, is screwed up into the lower section of the drill rod. In this form the drill rod has the inside core barrel 2 la extending from the drill 3a upwardly and also formed of sections. The lower end, or section, of this core barrel is perforated and the shell la oppositev fluid in this form will pass on down around the core being formed and return back up on the outside of the drill rod.

The upper end of the core barrel, of the form shown in Figure 2, is held centered in the shell I a by means of the spacers 21.

The drill rod shown in Figure 2 may be connected to the swivel of the conventional type.

When the form of rod shown in Figure 2 is used, upon withdrawal of the rod from the bore hole the sections of the shell may be unscrewed and the core barrel separated for access to the samples.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely while theY broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A drill rod comprising an outer, tubular, shell, an annular drill on the lower end of the shell; said shell having an outlet port above the drill, a tubular core barrel in the shell extending approximately from the drill upwardly through theshell, said drill rod having a channel for drilling fluid leading downwardly between the core barrel and shell to said port and an external, annular seal around the drill rod above said port and arranged to form a seal with the walls of the well bore.

2. A drill rod comprising an outer, tubular, shell formed of sections, a core forming drill on the lower end of the shell, said shell having an outlet port above the drill, a tubular sectional core barrel in the shell above the drill, said core barrel being spaced from the shell to provide a channel for drilling fluid leading down to said port and an external, annular seal around the shell above the port arranged to form a seal with the walls of the well bore to cause the drilling iluid to flow over the entire external surface of the drill.

3. A drill rod comprising an outer, tubular shell, an annular drill on the lower end of the shell, said shell having outlet ports spaced apart therearound above the drill, a tubular core barrel in the shell extending approximately from the drill upwardly through the shell to the upper end of the shell, said drill rod having a channel for drilling fluid leading downwardly between the core barrel and shell to said ports and a downwardly and outwardly flared packer surrounding, and secured to, the drill rod above said port and arranged to form a seal with the walls of the well bore in which the drill rod operates.

LOUIE F. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The followingreferences are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED sTATEs PATENTS Number Name Date 1,955,166 Bannister Apr. 17, 1934 2,234,454 Richter Mar. 11, 1941 2,259,191 Allen Oct. 14, 1941 1,907,154 Mitchell May 2, 1933 2,024,730 Hammer Dec. 17, 1935 2,159,249 Brantly May 23, 1939 1,999,428 Thrift Apr. 30, 1935 2,345,739 Fisher Apr. 4, 1944 

